(Photo by Department of Defense)
Frederick Douglass Moorefield, Jr., a Deputy Chief Information Officer for Command, Control, and Communications at the Office of the US Secretary of Defense, was arrested and charged with running a dogfighting ring for more than 20 years, according to the DOJ’s press release.
Moorefield, 62, of Arnold, Maryland, was arrested alongside Mario Damon Flythe, 49, of Glen Burnie, Maryland. Both men face federal charges for promoting and furthering an animal fighting venture.
The criminal complaint was filed on September 21, 2023, and unsealed at the defendants’ initial court appearances on Thursday, September 28, 2023.
U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Mark Coulson ordered that both defendants be released pending trial under the supervision of U.S. Pretrial Services.
The investigation revealed that Moorefield and Flythe used encrypted messaging applications to communicate with individuals throughout the United States to discuss dogfighting.
Moorefield operated under the name “Geehad Kennels,” while Flythe used the name “Razor Sharp Kennels” to identify their respective dogfighting operations. The duo discussed training methods, exchanged videos about dogfighting, and coordinated dogfights. They also discussed betting on dogfights and circulated media reports about dogfighters who had been caught by law enforcement.
On September 6, 2023, law enforcement officers executed search warrants at the residences of Moorefield and Flythe in Maryland. Twelve dogs were recovered and seized by the federal government. Additionally, officers found veterinary steroids, training schedules, a carpet stained with blood, and a weighted dog vest with a patch reading “Geehad Kennels.” A device consisting of an electrical plug and jumper cables was also seized, suspected of being used to execute dogs lost in dogfights.
If convicted, Moorefield and Flythe each face a maximum sentence of only five years in federal prison for “for possessing, training, or transporting animals for participation in an animal fighting venture.”
More from the Washington Post:
Lt. Cmdr. Tim Gorman, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement on Monday that the Defense Department was “aware of the criminal complaint” filed against Moorefield in federal district court in Baltimore.
“We can confirm that the individual is no longer in the workplace, but we cannot comment further on an individual personnel matter,” Gorman said. He did not say if Moorefield had been suspended, terminated or allowed to retire.
An affidavit written by FBI Special Agent Ryan C. Daly indicated that authorities have been investigating the dogfighting ring, which called itself “the DMV Board,” for years. Nine fellow dog-fighters were indicted in Virginia last year, and eight have pleaded guilty and cooperated with investigators. Members communicated on the “Telegram” messaging app about training fighting dogs, exchanging videos, arranging fights and wagers, and comparing methods of killing dogs who lost fights, the affidavit states.
Online records maintained by the dogs’ owners showed that Moorefield had been involved in dogfighting “since at least 2002,” Daly wrote, and evidence of Moorefield’s training for fights, or refereeing other owners’ dog fights, was found periodically over the years, including extensive messaging lining up fights and prize money. Evidence indicated some fights occurred earlier this year, despite the arrests of others in the ring, and that Moorefield and Flythe were “experimenting with different types of performance enhancing drugs to improve [their] chances of winning dogfights.”
Moorefield’s profile has been deleted from the U.S. Department of Defense’s website. But internet sleuths were able to archive the page:
Mr. Moorefield is the Deputy Chief Information Officer for Command, Control, and Communications (C3), Office of the Secretary of Defense, Chief Information Officer. As DCIO, Mr. Moorefield provides technical expertise, oversight and broad guidance on policy, programmatic and technical issues relating to C3 to integrate and synchronize defense-wide communications programs. He also advises on efforts to achieve and maintain information dominance for the Department of Defense. He manages efforts defining DoD policies and strategies for design, architecture, interoperability standards, capability development and sustainment of critical command and control and communications for non-nuclear strategic strike, integrated missile defense, Defense and National Leadership Command Capabilities, and spectrum.
Mr. Moorefield joined Federal service in 1989 in the Air Force as a civil servant, where he served for 19 years doing Research and Development and Acquisition at Wright Patterson Air Force Base Air Force Research Labs. He also served in the Defense Information Systems Agency at the Joint Spectrum Center for four years.
He served as Technical Director and Director of Strategic Planning at the Air Force Spectrum Management Office and has been a member of the Senior Executive Corps since 2012.
His education includes a Bachelor degree in mathematics from Wilberforce University, located in Wilberforce Ohio and a Bachelor and Master of Electrical.
Frederick Moorefield, who? Preserved for eternity..
This is the Pentagon official who electrocuted fighting dogs with jumper cables.
https://t.co/wLRM8ceD9V https://t.co/E5lqWR6hrK pic.twitter.com/xL6dSbBnsW
— Bad Kitty Unleashed (@pepesgrandma) October 3, 2023
The post Pentagon Official Exposed: Department of Defense Deputy Chief Arrested for Running Dogfighting Ring in D.C. Area for 20 Years appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.